It’s been 34 years since the novel Jurassic Park was published. Many movies and sequel novels later, Douglas Preston writes a great blockbuster summer-beach-kind-of novel that is a similar-yet-different take.
The plot of Extinction may initially be pretty much what you expect – FBI investigator investigates mystery deaths at a very expensive exclusive holiday park. Not just any old park, but Erebus Resort, where scientists have managed to resurrect (or what they call ‘de-extinction’), woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. (What is it about woolly mammoths at the moment? This is the second book I’ve read recently that have them as a major part of the plot!)
Anyway, when a billionaire’s son and his new wife are seemingly kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances (Frankie) Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.
As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection… but extinction.
Let’s deal with the elephant in the room. At a basic level, Jurassic Park and Extinction have similarities. The setting is different, but it could be said that the basic themes are still the same – they’re about profit, the monetisation of scientifically endeavours and big corporate business going wrong.
To be fair, though, Preston clearly knows this and gets the Jurassic Park comparisons out of the way early on – on page 24, when Cash says, “Sort of like Jurassic Park?” a scientist rounds on her, saying, “Nothing like Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park was bad fiction and bad science. Do not talk to me about Jurassic Park!” (Take that, Michael Crichton!) It must also be said that whilst woolly mammoths may not be quite as terrifying as Tyrannosaurus Rexes, they are undeniably cuter, cuddlier and – erm, windier.
The major difference is that Preston deals with this one like a police procedural story. It’s less about the de-extinctioning of species and more about how detectives would deal with mysterious murders. Really, although they are a part of the story, Extinction is not mainly about Woolly Mammoths, despite one horrific incident, and despite what the cover may suggest – a clever alternative to the original Jurassic Park cover. There are other factors involved.
To emphasise that, this is one of those blockbusters where everyone is referred to by their surname, there’s lots of detail about weaponry and places that seem straight out of guidebooks and manuals, and the use of initialled jargon throughout makes it all seem as real as a murder investigation could be.
Even when the author protest the differences perhaps a little too much, I can see why legions of Michael Crichton readers will be engaged and enthused by this one. The short chapters turn quickly and easily, building up the plot relentlessly until the climax at the end. Preston has quite a few very successful novels already under his belt, both on his own and with Lincoln Child (who this book is dedicated to, incidentally) and his skill as an experienced and best-selling author are clear here.
It is perhaps a sign of the writer’s skill that I actually found myself dreaming about being in the caves of Erebus Resort whilst reading the book, something which I rarely, if ever, do. He knows how to write a page-turner, and shows it here.
The afterword is a chilling reminder that although the book is fiction, much of the science isn’t. Indeed, as Preston points out here in a wonderfully chilling, if perhaps slightly paranoid paragraph, who’s not to say that some consortium, perhaps from Russia or China, may be continuing such genetic experiments, even now? The book may not be as far-fetched as some may think.
In short, Extinction may not be the plot that you think it is going to be, but it is a barnstormer of a beach read. I can definitely see this one being read on the beaches this summer. It’s engaging, exciting, entertaining, and with enough of a contemporary edge to keep casual readers engaged.
EXTINCTION by Douglas Preston
Published by Head of Zeus, April 2023
384 pages
ISBN: 978-103 5908 745
Review by Mark Yon
